Tales from Butternut Creek

The first novel in a charming new series, award-winning author Jane Myers Perrine's The Welcome Committee of Butternut Creek is an amusing, warmhearted look at a small town's reception of its newly ordained minister. The mission of committee members Miss Birdie and Mercedes is to educate Adam Jordan on how things should be done in town. But soon the ladies decide on a new goal - to find him a wife.

Once again, the Widows of Butternut Creek are determined to find a bride for Pastor Adam. This time, their candidate is as shy as the pastor! A traumatic experience has left Gussie Milton "once bitten, twice shy." Although she'd like a relationship, she's frightened. In the eyes of Miss Birdie and her friend Mercedes, aka "the Widows," Gussie would make Pastor Adam the perfect wife. And though the attraction proves mutual, first Gussie's past, then the pastor's hopes for the future threaten to keep them apart. Can the Widows' meddling bring them together?

The ladies of Butternut Creek Christian Church known as the Widows have always taken pride in their infallible matchmaking. They've succeeded again, and having found the perfect wife for Pastor Adam, they're ready to start planning the wedding. The one problem is that Adam has yet to propose. Clearly he still needs their help. Meanwhile, Adam's sister Hannah, a doctor, has returned from work in refugee camps, exhausted from the horrors she's seen.